Dear Readers, today I was at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust site in Barnes, south-west London, with my friend P and her three-month old baby boy. It’s such a joy to have a baby in my life again – the last time was when P herself was a baby, and that’s (ahem) over thirty years ago. The baby settles when his mum is carrying him in a sling and walking, so today we did 14,000 steps – not bad for someone with peripheral neuropathy and a cane. And we saw some splendid wildfowl, like the collection in the photo above – there are fulvous whistling duck (bottom left) and ruddy-headed geese in the middle.

This  little guy is a white-headed duck, and he was displaying by whistling and raising that little spiky tail.

And look! Some white storks. These are being re-introduced in several locations in the UK, including the Knepp estate and, apparently, Enfield, which is becoming something of a London rewilding hotspot, what with beavers arriving too.

This wild heron was being intermittently bombarded by a pair of very irate black-headed gulls, and very entertaining it was too, for us onlookers at least, though the heron was less than impressed.

P spotted these knobbly roots, and I do believe that they’re the ‘breathing roots’ of the Swamp Cypress (one of my favourite trees) – the trees were planted along the edge of one of the ponds, and the roots protrude above the surface of the earth. They are known as ‘knees’, and it used to be thought that they helped with oxygen exchange in wet conditions. Actually, scientists discovered that even if the knees are cut off, there is no decrease in oxygen, so the current theory is that these roots help to stabilise the tree in soggy conditions. Whatever the reason, they are remarkable structures.

Bark of swamp cypress

And then it was time to head home and put my feet up. But as I left East Finchley Station, I noticed that the gnarly old tree next to the coffee stand was absolutely covered in catkins.

I think this is a hornbeam (not surprising as there’s a hornbeam and oak forest on the other side of the road), but I had  never noticed it  before, caged in as it is. It is really glorious this year, and well worth a look if you’re hurrying past en route to the station. Just proves you don’t have to do 14,000 steps to see something impressive!